2008

Off to Denver

I wish I could always be as productive as I managed to be in the last 48 hours—I’ve...

Sderot

Barack Obama was in Sderot on the Gaza border this week, which reminded me of my visit there just...

Life Advice

One of my coworkers just walked in with this piece of advice: “If you don’t like...

Five Bites from Austin

In a nod to Amanda at Metrocurean and in recognition of just how much delicious food I consumed last...

The Making of the President

Teddy White’s masterful series, The Making of the President, is one of the greatest works of...

Early Adopting

I’m flying to Austin this week for a story and to go to two net/politics conferences. Since I...

Sorry I've ignored you lately

I haven’t been traveling as much lately and so haven’t been Tumblr-ing as much —...

Nicco Mele my wife is now a columnist for the...

Afghanistan

I just had a somewhat sad breakfast with my best friend from high school—he’s in the Army,...

Civilization

If anyone can propose something more civilized than sitting in an elegant hotel lobby, listening to...

Ribs

Last night, while in Memphis for the City & Regional Magazine Association annual meeting, I went...

Just for the record....

I just hopped in a cab and ordered: “We’re going to Graceland.” [In Memphis for a...

New Haven

I’m just leaving Yale after three days at a conference and realized that I bought very little...

The double rainbow outside my hotel window in New Haven last...

I’ve never been to Yale before so I took the...

I really am at sea

One of my problems

I love being a generalist. I think there’s way too much specialization in life today. I...

Um, yes, I would love to replace “Normal.” How...

Quote of the Day

On a door of an Eisenhower era White House official: “Have you come with a solution or are you...

Too many early mornings

It’s a commentary on just how many early mornings I spend at Tryst that, when I rounded...

On Writing

Gore Vidal in the new issue of Esquire: “I went into a line of work in which jealousy is the...

Feasting

So I went to go see both Julius Caesar and Antony & Cleopatra this week at the Shakespeare...

Quote of the Day

This was the quote of the day on the Bloomberg terminals today:  ”Egotism is the anesthetic...

Quote of the Night

Chris Matthews: “Regular people want to hear that you share their enemies.”

G4

Now over the past three years, I’ve done just about every cable channel out there: MSNBC, Fox...

Helicopters

United Technologies has a ton of advertising up in the Metro right now for its helicopters, ships,...

Hot and Not

Two quick reviews from the past week: Pizza Hut’s new “Pizza Mia” is one of the...

Last.fm

I’ve come over the course of this spring to love Last.fm and its eclectic music—each Sunday as...

Awe

I arrived back at the office today to discover that my computer has been replaced with a brand new...

Signs of the Apocalypse

At dinner last night, one of my friends said it seemed like we were living in End Times, what with...

LA Cold

I guess everything is relative. Today it’s “chilly” in LA, mid 60s, and as I sit...

Books

Anyone who has ever been to my apartment knows how much I love books. I spent much too much of this...

For the Record

There are few things in life as all-around delightful as the experience of Ben & Jerry’s...

Just asking

How is LA such a random mix of upscale and seedy? I’ve never seen so many sketchy little...

I got to tour the Warner Brothers Studio lot today—it was...

Expectations, Part II

As a follow-up to this, the reactions are in on the blogosphere from my LA Times Book Festival and...

On Exceeding Expectations

On my panel today at the Los Angeles Times Book Festival, I was the only one of the four panelists...

Pundits

I’m in LA to do a panel on “Campaign 2008” at the Los Angeles Times Book Festival...

On Writing

I’m at the LA Times Book Festival and listening to Gay Talese talk about writing. I loved this...

Airports

Pulling up to Dulles right now, I was thinking that I spend a lot of time in airports. This trip...

Question for the Day

Facebook and stalking. Where does one end and the other begin? Discuss.

Check Your Calendar

So I got this press release this afternoon: “Ice-Away Snow Melt Mats Keep Your Property Safe...

Google

So I have this nifty feature on my Blackberry that shows a satellite image of where my phone thinks...

Brookings

I’m at a Brookings event this morning and the panel moderator just used the phrase...

Huh

So someone I know just Twittered: “I am buying condoms at rite-aid and I am blushing. I am...

Signs of a Washington Insider #92

I’ve had dinner with more than half the people mentioned in this article on campaign hook-ups....

BRIC-a-B(i)raq

I spent Thursday night talking with a group of really smart and engaged State Department and foreign...

Russians

I sat next to Sergey Federov last night at the bar Russia House near Dupont as he had a low-key...

A Billion Dollars

Making a billion dollars in a single year is a lot of money.

Old Man Quote of the Day

I’m beginning to notice a theme in my Tumblr postings: Overheard remarks from old men who are...

The General

Just came out of a meeting to a voicemail on my cell phone from John Ashcroft. He’s certainly...

Brownies

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love dessert. My two favorites: chocolate milkshakes (which I...

More Pope!

I just saw the Pope again (I think). He was heading back up Connecticut as I was coming home from...

On my plate today

Subjects of calls, emails, or meetings I’ve dealt with today: The State Department, the...

My Pope experience, Part III

My Pope experience, Part II

My Pope experience, Part I

Popemobile

How can you respect a spiritual leader who rides around in such a silly vehicle? I wonder if Pope...

Where's Our Real World Data Portability?

Spam

Email headline: “You and a Rolex watch.” Yes, that is something I’m interested in....

Sudoko

Don’t get me wrong, I love me a good Sudoko as much as the next person. I even, from time to...

Work-Life Balance

On very rare days, I wish I still billed by the hour. Today I would have racked up over 15 billable...

Wow

This is a pretty incredible expense account abuse story, even as these stories go. One snip:...

I'm too wired.

I went to two post offices today to try to buy stamps so I could mail a card. At each, the lines...

Guardian: The value of this blog

On My Plate

I imagine that I’m one of the only reporters today in Washington who has dealt with the...

TwitLinks: The Techmeme of Twitter?

Doomsday

What on earth is going on at Mike Huckabee’s site? Is he launching a manned mission to Mars or...

Books

I realized that I run in odd circles when I was packing to fly to Tampa on Thursday and filled my...